12 miles....

Last Sunday after church, what has become our usual Sunday routine, took place. Got home from church, shoved as many carbs as I could find into my mouth, kissed A goodbye and headed out for a run. That day was a 12 miler. I had only ran 12 miles three times in mile life; the three half marathons I completed. So to say I was a little nervous was an understatement. A and I agreed on some places to meet so he could pass off some water for me, mile 4, mile 6 and then again at mile 9 where he would run the last three dreaded miles.

Let me take this moment to thank my hunka hunka burning love husband for all of his support and love. He isn't running this marathon with me, but without him I wouldn't be able to do it. Thank you A, you little Jamaican sprinter, you! I love you!

I was excited because I had a new route to explore. As I took off for the first four miles everything seemed to be going well. I passed A, took a sip of water and kept going. I got to go downhill for about 3/4 of a mile....sing it with me....PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH! Again....PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH!

As I came around to Alki I was far past mile 6, no A. Uh oh, I needed him, not so much the water, but him. I kept going, but nothing. Every car that passed I looked to see if it was him, nope. Then I remember he said something to me as I passed him at mile four that sounded a lot like, "K babe see you at the end of your run!" I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now I was getting worried. Could I survive 6 more miles by myself, with no water? Well we were about to find out.

I called out to Jesus constantly through this run, "Lord please give me strength in my legs and lungs," "Lord please I beg of You to get me up this hill," "Lord thank You for the ability to run." My prayers went from that to, "Lord please allow me to NOT throw up right now." I prayed that every 5 minutes for the last hour of my run. I have never had stomach issues while running, but these were some major issues. I had cramping and had waves of nauseousness. Oh boy it was bad. But the Lord was so faithful and by the end of my prayer the feeling was gone.

Finally at around 8.5 miles, with my head down some JERK jumped right in front of me. HELLLLLLLOOOOO? Did he not see that I was barely hanging on to every last ounce of sanity and energy I had left. The when I finally decided I was going to look up and politely tell him to get the H, E, Double Hockey sticks OUT OF MY WAY I realized, it was MY Jamaican runner. Where had he been all my life...okay maybe only the last couple miles? He told me I had a great pace going (probably a lie, considering he was just about walking next to me while I was "running") and that the time he estimated, I had already passed that location. He gave me some water and ran with me.

I was struggling so bad I didn't think I could keep going. But somehow I did and at mile 12 I looked down at my legs, bright red from the wind, muscles about to start seizing if I didn't stretch. "Good job legs" I told them. "Thank You Jesus, thank You, I love You." As I remained silent, still trying to catch my breath and tell my stomach to CALM DOWN, A looked at me, "hey we should have just kept going; one more mile and you could have completed a half marathon!"

Has my Jamaican-hunka-hunka-burning-love-runner-husband gone completely crazy....why yes, yes I do believe he has....

Lord You are so good, so amazing. Lord I thank You for who You are to me, to the world and to eternity. Lord I ask that you soften the hearts of the people who read this who don't know You. Lord give me the boldness to talk to them. Oh Lord, thank You for the ability to run. Lord my I never take it for granted. Lord thank You for ability to worship You, may that never be taken for granted by anyone. I love You Lord, Amen.